Valve for water-closets



No. s2|,549. Patented Mar'. 21,1899.

. a. s. wATsoN.

' VALVE Fon wATEn cLosET's.

(Application filed Feb. 5, 1898.)

XXV/uffa?. KM BWQXS'OU mvm Timm www UNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ROBERT S. WATSON, OF BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

.VALVE FOR WATER-CLOSETS.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters Patent No. 621,549, dated March21, 1899. Application filed FebruaryA 5, 1898. Serial No. 669,187. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. WATSON, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Bay valves for water-closets;and the object of the invention is to provide a valve for a water-closetwhich can be easily operated and which will be cheap and effective inits operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water-closet valve whichwill operate without noise or gurgling under a high pressure of water.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of the partsand also in the construction and operation of the same, as will behereinafter fully set forth and which will also be specifically setforth in the claims.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the samereference characters indicate the same parts throughout the severalviews, and in which- Figure 1 represents a'vertical transverse sectionof a water-closet Valve containing my improvement. Figs. 2 and 3 arevertical transverse sections of the valve removed. Fig. 4 is a planviewof the same.

1 represents a cylindrical body of the valve device containing in itsupper portion an airchamber 2 and in its lower portion a waterchambercontaining an upper section 3 and a lower section 4, divided from eachother by a web 5, which contains a valve-opening 6,l

with a Valve-seat 7 on its under side. The lower section 4 of thechamber is provided with an inlet-opening 8, and the upper section 3 isprovided with a discharge-opening 9.

Upon the valve-seat 7 is placed a valve 10, provided with a centralvertical tube 11, the ends of which project above and belowthe valve,and the lower end of vthis tube4 is provided with a valve-seat 12, uponwhich rests a relief -valve 13, the water-pressure from below the valvesholding them firmly upon their seats. The upper end 14 of this tubereaches nearly to the upper end 15 of the water-chamber, and within thetube is arranged a guide-piece 16, with its lower edge 17 of a wedge orV form, and the lateral sides of the V, which slant outwardly, arearranged so as to leave passages 18 on each side of the guide-piece,while the front and rear sides reach to the walls of the tube, to whichthey are secured: for holding the guide-piece in position. Throughthe-center of the guidepiece is a vertical opening 19, through whichpasses loosely a valve-rod 20, the lower end of which extends below thelower end of the .tube and through the valve 13, to which it is solidlysecured.

.At a short distance above the guide-piece 16 the valve-rod is providedwith a shoulder 21, and the rod extends upwardly through the air-chamber2 and is provided on its upper end with an operating-lever 22, which issupported by a fulcrum-arm 23 and is provided with a handle 24 on itsouter end, which is lifted to operate the valve-rod downwardly.

Within the chamber 2 is a piston 25, which is secured upon the valve-rod20, and in the piston is an opening 26, upon the upper side of which isa valve 27, arranged so that as the valve is moved downwardly the valvelifts and allows air to pass into the chamber. Within the lower portionof the chamber 2 is placed a coiled spring 28, which lifts upwardly uponthe piston for moving the valve-rod to seat the valves, and the sidewalls of the lower portion of the chamber 2 are provided with openings29 for the free passage of air to and from the chamber below the piston,while in the upper portion of the air-chamber is provided avent-opening30, whichis fitted with a screw-plug 31 for regulating the size of thevent as desired.

33 is a vertical air-chamber having its lower end provided with anopening 34 into the lower section 4 of the water-chamber, and the upperend of this chamber is closed, so as to allow the air confined withinthe chamber to form a cushion, which prevents any noise or pounding whenthe valves are closed by the pressure of water beneath the same.

.The inlet-opening 8 is connected by suitable pipes to the usualWater-supply from 'the mains in the Waterworks system, and thedischarge-opening 9 is connected with the bowl of any ordinary closet inthe usual way, and

then the pressure from the water-mains is let into the lower section 4of the water-chamber, and this pressure acting' upon the under side ofthe valves retains the same firmly upon their seats.

In order, to operate the device for liushing the closet, the handle 24is drawn upwardly, and the opposite end of the lever acting on the endof the rod 20 operates the same downwardly and opens the relief-valve 13and allows the water from belowto flow into the upper section of thewater-chamber and relieves the heavy pressure below the main valve,which when the shoulder 21 comes in contact with the upper end of theguide-piece 16 is moved easily downward, and the full liow of waterpasses through the main and the relief valve openings for flushing thecloset, the quantity of water being regulated by the time the valves areheld open by the air-cushion formed within the air-chamber above thepiston 25, the air above the piston being allowed to pass out slowlythrough the vent 30, which is regulated to allow the desired amount oftime to elapse before the valves are entirely closed, and while thespring 32 actuates the valve-rod and piston upwardly the water-pressurebelow the main valve holds the same against the shoulder 2l until themain valve closes, and the relief-valve then slowly closes as thevalve-rod is lifted up by the spring, and the water coming in throughthe reliefvalve serves to lill the bowl of the closet after beingliushed by the water from the main valve.

In all valves heretofore devised for flushing the bowl of the closetdirectly from the main the pressure from the main has been so great thatthe action of the water through the valve has been accompanied by agreat noise, and especially where a small relief-valve was used and thewater passed througlrsmall and irregularports or openings; but with myimproved form of relief-valve the water has a free entrance to andpassage through the tube 11, which is practically free and unobstructedby angles or turns, and the water passing in at the bottom of the tubeis divided into two streams by the wedge or V edge 17 of theguide-piece, and these streams passing with great force through thepassages 18 on each side of the V are Vforced through the upper end ofthe tube and against the upper wall of the chamber and the area of thespace between the end of the tube and the upper wall of the chamber isContracted by the main valve, which carries the tube being lifted to itsseat, which brings the end of the tube near the upper wall andtherebyoontracts the space between the wall and the end of the tube, soas to produce a slight back pressure upon the water in the tube, and inorder to relieve this back pressure and to divide and change the currentof the flow of Water from the tube the upper end of the tube is providedwith numerous side perforations 35, which allow a portion of the waterto escape in ali directions in small streams, which combine with theWater which passes downward upon the outside of the tube after strikingthe upper wall of the chamber.

While the construction explained'operates in a perfectly noiselessmanner when the pres sure from the water-main is not raised above fortyor fifty pounds, a higher pressure however, by adding a greater force tothe Water passing'through thetnbe of the valve, causes considerablenoise and gurgling to occur as the water strikes the metallic wall ofthe chamber, and in order to cushion the force of the water and deadenor eliminate this noise I place directly beneath the upper wall of thechamber a disk 36, of rubber or other similar material of a pliablenature, so that the water after leaving the end of the tubestrikcsagainst the disk and is turned downwardly thereby without coming inviolent contact with the metallic upper wall, so that a perfectlynoiseless action is obtained under extremely high pressure.

It is understood, of course, that when the water passes through therelief-valve opening at a high pressure the area 'of the opening must besuch as to cause the water to pass with great rapidity into the uppersection of the water-chamber, where there is practically no pressure,and the area of the chamber being necessarily limited the constructionof the apparatus in order to produce a noiseless action must be arrangedso that the iiow of water through the parts must be without obstructionsand entirely free, and then in order to check the rapid flow and changethe force of the current within the limited space allowed in therchamber a cushioning 'action on the stream and breaking into linecross-streams an entire elimination of all sounds and gur gling isobtained and the apparatus has an entirely noiseless operation.

Of course it is understood that While I have shown and explained theupper end of the tube 11 as being provided with a series of perforationsI do not limit my invention entirely to the precise construction shown,as it is well known that many forms of perforations or slits may be usedfor this purpose and a fairly good result will be obtained; and

lVhat I claim as my invention is* 1. In a water-closet the combinationof an upper and lower water-chamber divided by a web having a main-valveopening and a valve-seat on its under side, and having a water-inletopening to the lower chamber, and an outlet-opening from the uppercha1nber, a main valve upon said seat and provided with a centralopening and a seat on its under side for a relief-valve, and having onits upper side around said relief -Valve opening a tube extendingupwardly nearly to the top of the upper chamber, a guide-piece withinsaid tube and with water-passages on each side of the guidepiece, avalve-rod passed through the upper chamber and extending loosely throughthe guide-piece and IOS IIO

tube and carrying on its lowerend areliefvalve resting on said seat, andprovided at a point above the guide-piece with a shoulderV for actuatingthe main valve downwardly afterthe relief-valve is open, substantiallyas set forth.

2. In a valve for a water-closet, the combination of an upper and alower water-chamber divided by a web having a main-valve opening andwith a valve-seat on its under side, and-provided with openings for thepassage of water to the lower chamberand from the upper chamber, a mainvalve upon said seat and provided with an opening and seat for adownwardly-operated relief-valve and an upwardly-projecting tube abovethe relief-valve opening, with a pliable soft disk secured to the upperportion of the upper chamber for cushioning the force of the waterpassing through said relief-valve opening and tube, and a valve-rod foriirst opening the relief-valve and then the main valve, substantially asset forth.

3. In a water-closet valve the combination of the water-chamber havingan upper and lower section divided by a web having a mainvalve openingand valve-seat and provided with an inlet-openin g to the lower sectionand an outlet-opening from the upper section, with ya main valve uponsaid seat and provided With an opening and seat for a reliefvalve onitsA under side and provided on its upper side around said opening withan upwardly-extending tube, a guide-piece within said tube and having acentral opening fora valve-rod, and with its opposite sides -reduced toform Water-passages between the guidepiece and the inner wall of thetube, a valverod 'passed through the said upper section and through saidguide-piece and main valve, and having a relief-valve solidly secured toits lower end and resting upon said reliefvalve seat, and provided witha shoulder rod upwardly to close the valves, substantially as set forth.

4. In a, water-closet valve, the combination ofthe air-chamber carryinga piston and a valve for the rapid admission of air to the chamber and avent for a slow exhaust of air from the chamber, a water-chamber belowsaid air-chamber and provided with a web for dividing the chamber intoan upper and a lower section and having a main-valve opening with avalve-seat on its under side, awater-inlet opening into the lowersection and an exhaust-opening from said upper section, a main valveupony said seat and provided with a central opening having a seat forarelief-valvev and provided on its upper side around saidrelief-valve'opening with a tube extending toward the top of said uppersection, and provided near its upper end with a series ofrelief-openings, a downwardly-tapered wedge-shaped guide-piece withinsaid tube and provided with a central opening for a valve-rod, and withpassages on its opposite sides, a valve-operating rod passed throughsaid air-chamber and piston and extending through the upper section,guide-piece and tube and` carrying on its lower end a reliefvalveresting on said seat and provided above said guide-piece with a shoulderfor opening the main valve after the relief-valve is open,

and a spring for operating said piston and valve rod upwardly,substantially as set forthi In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixedmy'signature in the presence of two wit- Witnesses:

GEO. P. THOMAS, JAs. E. THOMAS.

